NEW DELHI: With onion prices climbing sharply across major cities, the Centre will begin selling onions at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg in Delhi from Thursday, using its buffer stock to ease retail prices, which have reached Rs 55-60 per kg in several cities.Union food minister Pralhad Joshi is scheduled to inaugurate the subsidised sale on Thursday, a senior consumer affairs ministry official said.The onions will be released from a buffer stock of 1.21 lakh tonnes maintained across onion-producing states for 2026.Retail sales will be undertaken through Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar.“We will start the sale tomorrow in Delhi and after by weekend extend to the NCR region,” Anice Joseph Chandra, managing director of the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF), told PTI.NCCF, which holds a buffer stock of 62,000 tonnes, is transporting 400 tonnes of onions from Nashik in Maharashtra to Delhi through a dedicated rail service called “Kanda Express”.The consignment is expected to reach Delhi on Thursday.The cooperative agency will sell onions through 100 Kendriya Bhandar stores and is also in talks with Mother Dairy to supply onions through its 300 outlets.NCCF will additionally deploy mobile vans, starting with 15 and increasing the number to 40 from the day after tomorrow.Supplies arriving through railway rakes will also be used to retail onions in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Varanasi and other cities, Chandra said.Nafed, which maintains a buffer stock of less than 55,000 tonnes, will also sell onions in Delhi and other centres, including Kochi and Guwahati.To speed up the movement of supplies, the government is transporting bulk consignments to Delhi through dedicated railway rakes named “Kanda Express”.The first such rake, carrying 800 tonnes of onions, has already left Nashik and is on its way to Delhi.Apart from Delhi, Chennai, Ernakulam, Madurai and Guwahati are also expected to receive onion supplies through dedicated rakes, although bookings for these routes have not yet been made.The government intervention comes after a steep increase in onion prices over the past month, PTI reported.The all-India average retail price rose more than 28% to Rs 44.72 per kg on August 25 from Rs 34.80 per kg on July 25.Compared with Rs 28.67 per kg a year ago, the average retail price is up 56%.Prices are higher in several major cities. On Wednesday, onions were selling at Rs 60 per kg in Chennai and Kolkata, compared with Rs 35 and Rs 32 a year ago, respectively.In Delhi, the retail price was Rs 55 per kg, against Rs 33 a year ago. Mumbai recorded Rs 48 per kg, compared with Rs 32 a year ago, while Ranchi recorded Rs 38 per kg against Rs 25 a year ago.Wholesale prices have also risen. According to ministry data, the average wholesale price stood at Rs 36.73 per kg on August 25, up 63% from Rs 22.54 per kg a year earlier and 33.5% higher than a month ago.Officials attributed the increase to the usual seasonal rise between August and September, driven by festive demand, weather-related disruptions, supply-chain movements and changes in consumption patterns.Government says onion supply remains adequateDespite the sharp rise in prices, the government said onion availability remains sufficient to meet domestic demand in the coming months.The government estimates 2025-26 onion production at 307.37 lakh tonnes, broadly in line with the 307.67 lakh tonnes produced in the previous year.(With agency inputs)
